LA Times Claims Trump Plans For Trump TV

Throughout Donald Trump’s campaign, his opponents have attempted to paint the Republican as someone who’s simply not a serious candidate for president.

One doesn’t have to look far to find Democrats who’ve said as much. And now, once again, some are saying Trump is setting himself up to start Trump TV, when and if he loses the election to Hillary Clinton.

The belief is that Trump wants to start another Fox News-style media channel to capitalize on advertising dollars which could be received as a result of Trump’s popularity.

Trump TV may be in the works; but can it turn voters into viewers?: Donald Trump TV is a tantalizing idea. Bu… https://t.co/DkFvpk7AmL

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The Times pointed to the Trump campaign’s hiring of Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon, and rumors ex-Fox News’ CEO Roger Ailes has been advising Trump, as evidence Trump is preparing to start a media empire post-election.

The Times article contended neither one of the media giants have any experience running a presidential campaign, but admitted Bannon advised Nixon, Reagan, and Bush (all of whom won their elections).

The Times wrote, “One possible conclusion is that Trump, who recently acknowledged that he might end up taking a ‘nice long vacation’ after November, has realized he is going to lose.”

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Going further, the Times concluded, “He has therefore recruited Ailes and Bannon to lay the groundwork for his backup plan: A new career as a right-wing media personality.”

The Times pointed to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as examples of politicians who turned to media to further their careers.

There’s no reason to think starting up Trump TV in partnership with Ailes & Bannon is an *alternative* to being president. Why not both?

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According to a Vanity Fair article in June, a source close to Trump says the candidate “has become irked by his ability to create revenue for other media organizations without being able to take a cut himself. Such a situation ‘brings him to the conclusion that he has the business acumen and the ratings for his own network.’ Trump has ‘gotten the bug,’ according to this person. So now he wants to figure out if he can monetize it.”

Earlier this week, conservative TV and radio host Glenn Beck — a vocal critic of Trump — also threw out the notion that Trump would look to form a media empire if he were to lose the election.

“What’s gonna happen is Donald Trump is going to make this look like a stolen election, he will divide us even more,” Beck said. “He, with his alternate right, alt-right, kind of view point, it will grow, it will metastasize. ”